In general, processes followed within an organization's ecosystem are described in various forms in most enterprise environments. This type of modeling is becoming increasingly important, as companies attempt to create uniform processes across the enterprise.
For example, a business analyst may create a process flow for a business process using tools such as Visio and iGrafx. However, in order to automate such processes, a different tool must be used, such as BizTalk, or similar tools.
Transferring such a process is, however, difficult. The business analyst must explain to a developer what each of the steps of the process mean. Then, the developer creates an automated process, which may be used by other employees to actually follow the process sketched out by the business analyst. This process is lengthy and complex, and miscommunication creates rework, thereby delaying implementation.
Additionally, some companies such as Siebel may provide best practices to corporations. These best practices are automated processes that may be followed for various actions. However, these processes may not match perfectly with the requirements of the customer, and in general are difficult to modify.